Your friends at Northwest Dental Group want to wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving and remind you that we’re always here to help you all enjoy the blessings of a bright, healthy smile all year long with our exceptional preventive dental care.
Maintain A Healthy Smile This Thanksgiving
Here are three dental health tips to keep in mind as you celebrate Thanksgiving and the holiday festivities that follow:
Tip #1 – Don’t Forget Good Oral Hygiene
It can’t be stressed enough that preventing dental problems starts at home with daily brushing and flossing.
The problem with the holiday season, though, is that your oral care routine is harder to maintain if your overall routine is a bit off. Traveling to a relative’s house for the weekend or being off of school or work can make it easy to become either more relaxed with your usual oral hygiene regimen or to forget it altogether.
So be sure to set yourself up for success this season by giving yourself some sort of daily reminder to brush and floss your teeth properly.
Tip #2 – Don’t Be Controlled By Your Sweet Tooth
As we often remind our patients around Halloween, the real danger of consuming too much sugar isn’t so much about the amount but the length of exposure.
In other words, the longer your teeth and gums are exposed to sugar, the bigger the threat of tooth decay, cavities, and gum disease. Sipping a soda all afternoon is worse for your teeth than eating an entire candy bar in one sitting.
Practicing moderation is always the smartest approach when it comes to consuming sugar over the holidays, but it’s also wise to rinse your mouth with water after you’ve had a piece of fudge or cup of cocoa to wash away excess sugar.
Tip #3 – Don’t Let Colorful Treats Stain Your Teeth
Certain things about special holidays pose threats to your smile that are more cosmetic in nature, like teeth stains. Sipping a mug of hot chocolate by the fire or a glass of red wine at your family gathering aren’t the sort of things that will affect the color of your teeth in the short-term.
Generally speaking, a dull, dingy smile happens slowly over time as a result of the foods and drinks you consume fairly consistently, along with a number of other factors like lifestyle, oral hygiene, genetics, and age.
Enjoying dark specialty drinks or brightly-colored holiday dishes this time of year is okay, but if you want to prevent dark pigments in those items from sticking to your tooth enamel, rinse your mouth out with water after consuming them to keep your smile’s youthful glow.
Call Now For An Appointment!
One rule of good oral health that won’t change with the seasons is your need for high-quality routine dental care from a skilled dentist.
When you visit us every six months for dental cleanings and exams, you’ll have a better chance of preventing problems with your teeth and gums and preserving your bright, healthy smile.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! To schedule your next dental appointment in Rochester, MN, call Northwest Dental Group at (507) 203-2332.